DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Shurmur and Heckert expected to be fired Monday

Cleveland Browns fire coach Pat Shurmur, GM Tom Heckert | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ss...art_maj-story-1

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The brief Pat Shurmur tenure is officially over. The Browns this morning announced that Shurmur has been fired after two years as head coach and also that General Manager Tom Heckert is out after three years.

Shurmur, hired by Heckert and former team president Mike Holmgren, leaves with a 9-23 record as an NFL coach.

“We felt that these moves were in the best interests of the Cleveland Browns and our future,” Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam said in a team release. “I enjoyed getting to know Tom and Pat over the past several months, and want to thank them, not just for their contributions to the Browns, but also the insight they were able to provide. They are both fine men and hope they have the best of success as they move forward with their careers.”

“This decision was not an easy one because of my relationship with Tom and Pat and the fact that they are both quality people,” said Browns CEO Joe Banner. “Ultimately our objective is to put together an organization that will be the best at everything we do. On the field, our only goal is trying to win championships. I have a great deal of respect for Tom and Pat, and I want to wish them and their families nothing but the best.”

Both Shurmur and Heckert are expected to have other opportunities before too long. Shurmur might be a candidate for the Vikings' offensive coordinator job, according to CBS Sports' Jason LaCanfora. Heckert is expected to draw interest from several teams with general manager vacancies.

One or both might also have a chance to be reunited with Andy Reid, who was fired this morning by the Eagles. Reid reportedly has already been calling around to assemble his staff and has his sights set on the San Diego job, according to profootballtalk.com.

“I am extremely proud of the players on this team, who I felt made tremendous strides and helped to make the Cleveland Browns relevant again,” Shurmur said in the release. “I want to thank them, as well as my entire coaching staff for making the past two years enjoyable. My coaches are outstanding teachers and even better men. They helped me lead these players through a unique time of transition. This group of players will achieve success soon, and there will be a part of me that will feel very good when that happens.

“I want to thank Randy Lerner, Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert for bringing me in and having the faith in me to lead this football team. I am disappointed that we did not win more games, but I do know the Browns are on their way to becoming a consistent winner. I appreciated the time spent with Jimmy (Haslam) and Joe (Banner), and wish them all the best as they provide a new vision for the Cleveland Browns.”

Both Shurmur and Heckert had known for a while that the ax was likely to fall right after the season.

"Listen, I get this,'' Shurmur said on Thursday. "We have not won enough football games and I know that’s the way this things works, but in our situation I see improvement and I’ll leave it at that.''

Shurmur stressed that he and his staff had to play with a young roster -- 26 players with less than two years' experience -- and that the team was built for the long haul, not necessarily to contend this year.

"We came into a less-than-ideal situation when we got here,'' said Shurmur. "I’m proud of the work that the guys that I hired did in terms of inspiring the players to improve. It’s a little different thought process when you’re working with so many young ones. There are certain things you’ve got to keep hammering home that when you’ve got a veteran crew, you know you talk about other things.''

Heckert said the hardest part for him is all the guys he brought here for what was supposed to be the long-term.

"If things don’t work out, it changes people’s lives,'' Heckert said in a quasi-farewell news conference Dec. 14. "And I’ve been on the other end. You don’t blame anybody. It’s hard. I’ve got a scouting staff that’s really young, and we’ve got people that are having babies. It’s tough on those guys. But we signed up for it.”

The Browns will quickly begin interviewing candidates for both vacancies. One of the names they'll pursue, according to sources, is Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, who is reportedly sought after by a number of NFL clubs, including the Eagles and Panthers. Kelly, the offensive genius behind the high-octane Ducks, is 45-7 in four years at Oregon.

Also on the Browns' short list, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, is Penn State's Bill O'Brien, who may be heavily pursued by the Eagles. Banner could be competing with his former team for two of the biggest names in this year's coaching derby.

Other names expected to be on the Browns' radar are the following NFL offensive coordinators: Josh McDaniels (Patriots), Greg Roman (49ers), Bruce Arians (Colts), Mike McCoy (Broncos), Dirk Koetter (Falcons), Jay Gruden (Bengals) and Kyle Shanahan (Redskins). On the defensive side, former Browns assistant and Cleveland native Mel Tucker of the Jaguars is expected to draw interest, along with Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

Then there are always the big-name candidates such former Bucs and Raiders coach Jon Gruden and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, both of whom have some ties to Haslam. Alabama coach Nick Saban has been linked to the Browns, but sources have told The Plain Dealer that he's staying put.

From a GM standpoint, multiple reports have linked Banner to former Browns personnel executive and current NFL Network analyst Mike Lombardi, who worked here with Bill Belichick. Others have said Lombardi might have an opportunity with another team.

Other GM candidates could include the Falcons' David Caldwell, the Bills' Doug Whaley, the Chiefs' Ray Farmer, the Cardinals' Steve Keim and Jason Licht, and the Seahawks' John Idzik.

Heckert acknowledged it will be tough not to finish what he started.

"Yeah, you know it’s going to be disappointing,'' he said. "But I do get it. I can’t just sit around and pout about it, I’ve got to go try to do it somewhere else.''

Heckert infused the roster with young talent, including defensive starters Joe Haden, T.J. Ward, Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard. He also drafted or signed young backups Billy Winn, Craig Robertson, Buster Skrine and Tashaun Gipson. On offense, he brought in five contributors this season in Trent Richardson, Brandon Weeden, Josh Gordon, Travis Benjamin and Mitchell Schwartz.

"We were told, when I first came here, that you’ve got five years to fix this thing,'' said Heckert. "Things change. You’ve just got to roll with it. It’s something you’ll think about, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Heckert also complimented Shurmur for getting all the young players ready to compete this season.

"He should get the credit because he's done a heck of a job,'' said Heckert. "Times were tough. There's some mistakes made during the games and it's tough on those coaches. I think he's done a phenomenal job with that. The offense this year, that's a lot of young guys to throw in there. I think the staff's done a great job.''

Shurmur, who got the job after spending two seasons as the Rams' offensive coordinator, admitted earlier this month that one of his mistakes was not hiring an offensive coordinator in his first season, especially after the 2011 lockout. Shurmur was also criticized for game-day decisions, such as handing off to Alex Smith last season in a loss to the Rams and not going for it this year on fourth-and-1 in Indianapolis.

"Pat was dealt a tough hand,'' said one insider. "He had the lockout his first year, and then the team was sold in his second season. Not many coaches have to deal with huge obstacles like that.''

It's not yet known which, if any, members of the coaching or personnel staffs will survive the purge.

J/C

Anyone going to be in the chat during the presser? It starts at 11:30.

The rumor of Reid and Heckert landing in San Diego makes the most sense to me.
They (SD) just fired both their GM and Coach.

Sheeesh.
New Years Eve Massacre!

Really.

10am the day following the last game of the season and already 5 or 6 head coaches and 4 GMs are already out on their asses.

It's nuts that a league that rewards continuity and perseverance completely ignores that fact year after year after year.

Just nuts.

now the Chargers fans can see Heckert's 5 year plan close and upfront.
they better get used to Heckert drafting a FB every year and defensive backs that are 5'9 170 LBS.
If Cameron gets waived in 2013,he will be a Charger.

Chat room for presser

That is the whole part of the rebuilding that I really do not like. We have a GM that if you look at his overall drafting, did not do bad at all. To start with someone new, who we do not know what direction they will go in etc.. is partially troubeling... WE have gone from GMs that did not know what they were doing to atleast one who was picking pretty decent players. Now we have to wait and see what the new person does with this draft.

In April, we might be crying for Heckert!!... a scary thought again!!

Link to presser

I've read (sorry no link) on PFT that the Bolts aren't interested in Reid.

ESPN: Firing Heckert wrong move.

"candidly" is the new "battled."

I do like the fact that the very first thing that Haslam mentioned when asked what he is looking for is "Leadership". That's exactly what I want from my head coach. I want a strong leader.

He then also went on to mention being aggressive, and finding a tough individual for the head coach.

As far as the GM/Player Personnel Director, maybe we already have a guy in house that they like. They kept 100% of the scouts and staff ...... so who knows?

My feeling is this:

It's obvious, for whatever reason, that Haslam and Banner did not feel that the Browns would be best served by having Heckert stay with the team.

The head coach will be the primary focus of this search. The team obviously feels that having the right head coach is more important than having the right GM ...... and the GM will serve the head coach as far as following what the head coach wants in players, specification, expectations for each position .... and so on. The GM won't decide what kind of players best fit the team .... the head coach will. The GM's responsibility will be to fulfill the head coach's vision through the draft and other player acquisitions.

EGOS back in power in Cleveland

Banner really just said answering a tough question "even if I gave you an HONEST answer to that"



Back to double talk, inflated egos/opinions, power struggles and dumb mistakes.

I got trashed when I went all storm on Mangini from the get go saying that he was a power struggle waiting to happen, and he proved to be that TWICE.

Same now happens with Banner....I know the naive homers will come out again with "maybe he has learned from Philly" prayers, but it's more likely he won't change his character at this advanced an age and with even MORE power than ever before (someone else see the SAME structure as when Mangini was brought in?).

Good god, stop looking like a freaking backstabbing rat Banner !! You can already see his inflated aristocratic self-assessment the way he is pretty much looking down on the questions.

We are stupid, that should sum it up



Happy new year, I might have watched my last Browns game for a while

I actually thought he had a good answer to that question.

Lovie Smith wouldnt be a bad choice just have to get him a good OC. So looks like thus far Bills, Chiefs, Bears, Browns, Chargers, Eagles and very likely Jags and Panthers are cleaning house.

I'm going to stay positive, and hope that he knows what he's doing.

It's obvious that Haslam believes in the Philly/New England type model. He wants the rest of the team to service the head coach, as opposed to having the head coach be just another cog, or even answerable to the GM or other positions.

It's a system that can work, and like all others, it can also flop. Hopefully they do go find a guy with great leadership qualities. I feel that is the #1, #1a, #1b, #2, and #3 most important quality a successful head coach needs.

Oh boyyy.... This presser is great. Wow, don't feel good about this here, color me unimpressed. I really hope i am wrong.

Well then let's hope it's not Kelly or our offensive roster is going to get filled with a bunch of undersized speedsters that'll get killed in the AFCN. We'll have to carry 10 WRs to get through the concussion plagued season. Don't expect to see much D being played. The Ducks certainly don't think it's important. Expect to be shocked at whichever crap rabbit they pull out their collective hats to play QB for us. There is no one on our roster thst even comes close. Maybe Dennis Dixon would love a starting job. Tebow should be available too. Kill me. Please kill me.
God. I ask one thing in this new year. Please no Kelly.

I ask all of you Kelly supporters this. Would you have wanted Rich Rod after he had West Virginia in the top 10 a couple years on a row? Why? What makes him that much different than Kelly?

Are we really going to conclude that this team is going to be awful and that these 2 are awful people who cannot get the job done based on a 30 minute presser?

J/C

Hope everyone is happy with Jerry Jones 2.0 and Al Davis 2.0

WE'RE DOOMED!!!!

We've been doomed before.

We'll be fine.

I want to see who they hire as head coach before I go nuts.

We all knew that both Heckert and Shurmur were walking dead. Not too many people were upset about the impending Shurmur firing prior to the end of the season. As far as Heckert, I do think that he is tied into a specific type of team ..... a WCO/4-3 team .... and maybe they didn't feel that he could adapt to trying to service a different type of team with different schemes. Maybe he expressed that he was the final voice on players, and that's what he wanted to remain. Who knows? I do believe that Heckert could probably come off as a know it all in private. I look at how he reacted when Mangini was fired, and someone asked him about the Jayme Mitchell trade. He was incredulous, wondering why Mangini never put (a 4-3 DE) Mitchell on the field, because he was the team's "best pure pass rusher". He mentioned it several times. However, as we all saw, Mitchell was nothing special at all. He's out of the league today.

I dunno .... maybe I'm just trying to fit some pieces together in a way that makes sense ..... but I just hope that we finally get this right.

They talked like this was the best destination for coaches and guys would knock their doors down to get here!

They want someone who has a big ego. I'm just glad Rex Ryan isn't available or else we'd be talking to him, too.

This is going to be really bad.

Look little.... The browns are arguably my favorite team out of any sports that i love. That being said, i just did not come away impressed with anything they had to say. I live in Findlay, which many know is Ben Roethlisberger's hometown. This used to be a proud browns town, and now it's a steelers town, they even have their own bar here in town. I so want the browns to come to life, as do all the other fans, to be proud of our team. Point is, we need to take that back, and start winning football games, Shurmer was not the answer!!! But when they said explore all avenues, doesn't that kinda scare u? Do u want a college coach? Not me, i will forever be a browns fan but let's kill this stagnant crap.